Urban Writers' Retreathttp://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk
Stop procrastinating. Get it done. Writing retreats, communities and procrastination-busting online bootcamps for writersSat, 21 Feb 2015 09:06:07 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Setting writing goals isn’t enough. What do you need to actually reach them?http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/setting-writing-goals-isnt-enough-what-do-you-need-to-actually-reach-them/
http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/setting-writing-goals-isnt-enough-what-do-you-need-to-actually-reach-them/#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 16:08:22 +0000http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/?p=2122If you’ve known me a while you’ll know I love a good goal (2015 writing planner anyone?). Actually I think they’re essential if you want to live a fulfilling life. You can just drift about waiting for interesting stuff to happen to you and end up wondering where the years went, or you can work out what you really want to do/have/be next and take steps to get there.

There’s just one problem. A goal alone won’t get you very far. The existence of the goal doesn’t magically mean that book will get completed, that you’ll be a better writer at the end of the year, or that you’ll make hundreds of sales.

So what makes the difference between achieving your goals (or making good progress at least) and that sinking feeling of failure at the end of the year?

Habits.

It’s not that you shouldn’t have big goals (you absolutely should), but even when they’re broken down into small steps the scale of the task ahead can be overwhelming.

What would happen if, knowing that you had a goal of writing a novel this year, you put that aside entirely and focused all of your energy on writing 500 words (or doing equivalent work) every day?

We have a tendency to think that we need to make big progress every time we pick something up to make it worthwhile, but if you were to sit and write just 500 words every day Monday to Saturday, you wouldn’t have written enough words for a novel draft by the end of the year. You’d have enough for two.

The brilliant thing about habits is that although they take a while to get into because they are built by repetition (meaning you have to actually do them for a while), they become routine behaviours that you do automatically. This means that once you’re in the habit of writing regularly it will just be something you do, like the way you do your washing on a Sunday almost without thinking about it. The more often you write the easier the act of sitting down and writing gets.

The important thing is to create some kind of space and time for writing in your life and to make it an automatic part of your life.

What would be the best, most appealing habit for you? It’s pick your own adventure time, and here are 5 good habits for writers to get you thinking:

If you’re re-starting or struggling with procrastination, just sit at your desk for one minute every day with your manuscript open. Don’t feel silly about it, and don’t start thinking you must write. If you do, you do, if you don’t you still sat there. Once that habit is ingrained you can take another step.

If you’re writing but doing it inconsistently, try 750 words. It’s free and gives you cool badges when you write consistently, and rewards are good for forming habits.

Read whenever you’re on a train or bus. Writers need to read.

Keep a note by your bedside and write down at least one idea or one thing you’ve noticed every day. Doesn’t matter what it is, just that you do it, that you make a habit of noticing, of thinking like a writer.

Pick an activity where your brain isn’t fully occupied (walking, showering, washing up) and get into the habit of asking yourself questions about your writing. Who is that character, why does this happen, what happens next, what’s the problem here?

]]>http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/setting-writing-goals-isnt-enough-what-do-you-need-to-actually-reach-them/feed/0Be the hero of your own novel (and by novel I mean life)http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/be-the-hero-of-your-own-novel/
http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/be-the-hero-of-your-own-novel/#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 17:39:51 +0000http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/?p=2094I’ve been thinking recently about how the roller coaster of writing is a little like the ups and downs a novel’s protagonist goes through.

So what can you learn from storytelling about being the hero of your own journey, whether that’s writing your novel or, well, living your life fully?

1. Be proactive

Writing a passive protagonist (Hi, Fanny Price, I’m looking at you) is a great shortcut to a boring novel that it’s pretty hard to care about. We’re told to write active characters, to have them actually do something that affects the story’s outcome, but sometime’s we’re rubbish heroes in real life and act more like the dowdy friend who just sits in the corner.

Want to write a novel? Want to move to Australia? Want to find love? Guess what, you have go out there and do it. It’s easier to float along and let things happen to you, but you’re the one in charge of your own life. Don’t be a Fanny (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

You get to decide what happens… so what are you going to do?

2. It’s okay not to be perfect

Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean you’re flawless. FAR FROM IT.

It would be lovely if you got up an hour early every day and knocked 1,000 words out, exercised, then arrived at work feeling all cheerful and fulfilled. Hahahahahahahhaha.

It doesn’t matter that you haven’t written for six months, don’t have a creative writing MA, aren’t going to writing events, that most of what you write feels like utter nonsense and that you’re kind of crabby in the morning.

You don’t have to be perfect (heroes rarely are), you just need to be brave enough to do the things you’re scared of, one step at a time.

2. You need to want it badly

Do you really want to write a novel, or do you just like the idea of writing one? There’s no getting away from the fact that writing a novel is hard work, and every hero needs enough motivation to see them through the bad patches. You’re going to have to keep going when you don’t believe you can (blind optimism or stubbornness are good traits at this stage). Do you want it enough?

By the way, there’s no shame in the answer being no. If you don’t care that much about writing, go find something else you do care about.

4. It’s always darkest before the dawn

Uh, I’m pretty sure this is cheesy metaphor rather than scientific fact, but work with me here.

There’s often a point in novels and films when things look like they’re coming together. Then the whole thing falls apart, leaving the hero crushed and wondering how on earth they’re going to overcome this new obstacle.

This is what writers experience (sometimes multiple times) during drafting, then again during editing, and again during the process of finding an agent… you get the idea.

Lots of people give up during these troughs, which are often due to resistance and self-sabotage having a little party in your head. So many people give up three quarters of the way through their first draft, or they just start editing then can’t face carrying on. But you’ve put so much hard work in already and you’re so close. If you can be kind to yourself and start working again slowly, you will find that things are better than you thought.

I’ve had a fantastically exciting year that’s included a number of weeks running retreats in Devon as well as London retreats, an online bootcamp, running a ‘plot your novel in an hour’ session at a fancy members’ club and, of course, the Six Month Novel.

Alongside that I’ve taken trips to Portugal, Spain, New York, Iceland and Italy where I’ve been able to both work and write alongside travel. Alright for some, eh?

It’s been an up-and-down year in writing terms, but I’ve found the more I just focus on getting the words out and not judging, the more I’m able to cope with the inevitable fears and doubts. I’m going to use this knowledge as a springboard into next year and practice rounding off pieces of work, focusing on faster drafting to improve my flow and finishing to get a better feel for story structure.

What about you? What did you write last year and where do you want to be this time next year? For the last couple of years I’ve made a printable calendar and planner for writers as a gift, and here’s the new one for 2015. It’s a toolkit that aims to help you create a plan that will let you actually reach your goals, not just gaze longingly at them from a distance.

After all, nobody just wakes up one morning and finds themselves half way up Everest. There are some things in life you need to set your mind to…

I’d suggest printing it out and settling in with a cup of tea and a spare hour, but there’s a super-quick one-question fast version at the back for the less patient among us.

Please feel free to share this with any writer who’d like it, and when you’ve finished come back here and share your major goal for 2015 (or let me know on Twitter).

]]>http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/your-free-2015-writing-planner/feed/0Books writers lovehttp://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/books-writers-love/
http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/books-writers-love/#commentsFri, 19 Dec 2014 13:44:09 +0000http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/?p=1921One of the nice things about writing retreats is being able to geek out about books during breaks. And since I don’t seem to have read anything but books for children and teens in the last year (it’s research, okay?) I started collecting names of books writers love at the Devon retreats.

It’s largely novels from the last 20 years, plus a handful of writing books (lists of classics, YA and sci-i/fantasy we loved to come) but if you’re looking for great book recommendations then there are worse places you could look than into the minds of writers.

Of course I’m in favour of supporting local bookshops, but because it’s convenient for many people (and you might be in time to get them for Christmas), here are the Amazon links. You can also see them collected here.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. My list has a scribbled note next to this just says ‘lovely’.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005 gets a lot of love from our writers, as does his earlier The Remains of the Day (which won the prize in 1989).

I still haven’t read The Help by Kathryn Stockett, set in 1960s Mississippi, but I often hear people say they expected it to be disappointing, but it turned out to be of those rare books that really lives up to the hype.

The Briefcase by Hiroki Kawakami (it seems to also be known as Strange Weather in Tokyo) is a quiet love story set against the changing seasons.

We are all Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2014, a number of writers recommended this book about families and the damage we do to those we love.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Both crime drama and historical saga, writers was recommended this multiple prize-winning book partly because of its haunting Icelandic setting.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Mitchell. This retelling of ancient Greek myths won the Orange Fiction prize in 2012.

Thrillers & Horror

The Burning Air by Erin Kelly is a clever, creepy psychological thriller set in Devon.

These are all affiliate links. Kind of like a finder’s fee, this means that if you buy through these links I get a small percentage of you payment, usually a few pence. It makes no difference to what you pay, because that would be silly.

]]>http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/books-writers-love/feed/0Beat procrastination with one simple questionhttp://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/beat-procrastination-with-one-simple-question/
http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/beat-procrastination-with-one-simple-question/#commentsFri, 24 Oct 2014 12:00:14 +0000http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/?p=1896Sometimes I put off writing (I don’t have the answer to something, my room is too cold, I don’t like my main character, doing a synopsis is EVIL, any reason big or small), and then time passes and another week has gone by and I’ve still done nothing.

You know you’ve done it too.

Then a coach asked me a very simple question: what would it take to make this feel delicious?

Because, she said, if it feels awful you’ll keep putting it off, but if you look for ways of making it feel better it will, er, be nicer to do.

The woman is a genius.

The thing that would make your current writing problem feel better might be something practical like buy myself a better chair or more vague, perhaps know where my story is going.

What you’re aiming for is something that’s do-able and specific, so I’ve asked two bonus questions designed to get you from, ooh that sounds lovely to practical steps you can take right now that will help things feel easier and better. Sometimes it’s little things that will shake things out and let us move forward again, but if you’ll need much bigger changes then at least you know what it will take and how to get there.

Then you can get on with your writing and the world will be a happier place.

So. What would make your writing feel amazing? And what can you do today to get a little bit of that feeling?

For me? I needed to let go of the big picture and let myself doodle with words, ask questions and find out more about my story world without pressure. And remember to put on my snuggly socks.

]]>http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/beat-procrastination-with-one-simple-question/feed/0First drafts: welcome to the roller coaster (of love)http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/first-drafts-welcome-to-the-roller-coaster-of-love/
http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/first-drafts-welcome-to-the-roller-coaster-of-love/#commentsFri, 25 Jul 2014 22:03:38 +0000http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/?p=1855
]]>http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/first-drafts-welcome-to-the-roller-coaster-of-love/feed/0Be careful what you wish for: what’s it really like to be able to write full-time?‏http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/be-careful-what-you-wish-for-whats-it-really-like-being-a-writer/
http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/be-careful-what-you-wish-for-whats-it-really-like-being-a-writer/#commentsThu, 23 Jan 2014 23:05:27 +0000http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/?p=1781Today’s guest post comes from Siân Rowland, who is Rocking in the Freelance World as a writer and education consultant (see how I’m putting the writer bit first, Siân?). Last year she…. no, wait, I’m just going to let her tell this story.

But I’d like to point out though that Siân is very modest about her achievements and though there were undoubtedly some lows in her year, I can count at least 3 things in here that would have me throwing cartwheels all the way round the garden and bathing in prosecco.

—

It was a snow day in 2010 and the local government office where I worked was shut. I was working from home at my computer dressed in warm, comfortable clothes, a cup of tea by my elbow and the radio on. Without the commute and the interruption of phonecalls, office gossip and school visits I managed to complete loads of admin and planning and had time to polish up a short story to submit to a competition. As I gazed at the snowy world outside (don’t worry, it’s all going to hit the fan any moment…) I mused on a perfect world where I would go to work on four days of the week and on the fifth day, like some literary deity, I’d be at home and Write Important Stuff. I wondered what my employer would say (in 3,2…)

I never found out because not long afterwards (…and 1) I was told that funding for my role had been cut. Compulsory redundancy…sorry…hand in your passcard and here’s your P45. Please don’t weep all over the furniture on your way out.

Be careful what you wish for as they say. I now had plenty of time to write but no job and no money coming in. At least not until the world discovered me and I was hailed as the new JK Rowling meets Hilary Mantell with a book advance to match. This has not happened. Yet.

I now have my own education consultancy business, run training for teachers and write and develop educational materials as a freelancer. It’s tough work and I’m always hustling for the next job and worrying about how to pay the bills but in between times (I think actors call it ‘resting’) I do now have time to write.

Like many putative writers, however, I’m a terrible procrastinator. I’m constantly pootling around Facebook and Twitter, checking out videos of cats doing oh-so-hilarious things, checking to see if the freezer has miraculously and magically filled itself with ice cream since I last looked five minutes ago or putting together a Spotify playlists. Hell, I’ll even clean the loo if it means I don’t have to knuckle down.

So when I came across Charlie’s 2013 Writing Year Planner (here’s the 2014 planner! It’s slightly shorter than the 2013 version) at the beginning of last year I stopped Gangnam Styling across the kitchen floor, sat at my laptop and printed it out. There’s something homework-y about a planner that really appeals to the teacher in me. The first task was reviewing the previous year: I had found a writing group I liked but hadn’t gone to many meetings. I had started a new blog but hadn’t written many posts. I had taken up an interim deputy headship in a large urban school which took up all my time and had recently been diagnosed with an auto-immune condition which left me tired and anxious. Could do better. See me after class.

I wrote down five big targets for 2013: finish writing and editing my young fiction book; send the book to five agents; go to my writers group regularly and at least two more writing events; broaden my circle of friends and colleagues to include more writers and creative people and spend 30% (I know. Get me!) of my work time on paid writing assignments. I broke these down into manageable chucks and in summarising wrote, ‘I will call myself a writer as writing will be part of how I make my living and how I see myself.’ This was a huge breakthrough. When I met new people and the, ‘so what do you do?’ question arose I answered with,‘I’m an education consultant and trainer. And writer.’

Luckily most people get fixated on the first bit and wonder what the hell an education consultant is (for the record I train, advise and support teachers) so it soon felt natural to say, ‘I’m a writer too.’

And so on to the monthly planner and its theme. Commitment. It was the one topic that connected all my plans. I wrote it large and proud at the top of the sheet. I have to confess that I did it in pencil, just in case. But I pressed really hard.

It was important for me to hang out with more creative types to help me feel less of an oddball. Most of my friends are teachers and while it’s a very creative profession- you are actor, artist, author, comedian, juggler, plate-spinner and expert flying missile wrangler- our discussions tend to drift towards what we’ll do if we ever bump into Mr Gove in a dark alleyway where the CCTV is marked ‘out of order.’ While these discussions are cathartic and necessary I needed to mix with a wider circle of folk too. I wrote down tasks like, ‘have coffee with someone connected with writing’ and ‘attend an author event.’ By making this a focus I ended up meeting some amazing people. I went to a book launch, I was on the writer’s guest list of a radio recording, I hung out backstage at a West End show and wrote and performed a rap with a live band. Oh yes. It wasn’t always easy, I wasn’t always comfortable but I learnt such a lot and had fun too. I promised to blog twice a month and although I didn’t quite make it, I did blog more and committed to posting more often. I did make 30% of my earnings through writing assignments by writing educational materials for The Co-operative and John Lewis Partnership and although it’s not quite the creative writing dream it’s still practising the craft. I even got asked to write materials to go with the John Lewis Bear and Hare Christmas advert and saw the ad in their head office weeks before it went public.

I sent my book out to six agents in the end. I had rejections from three of them and heard nothing from the other three. One rejection was particularly brutal and I’m still a feeling a bit bruised by it, but I’m developing resilience and didn’t cry or check the freezer for magic consolation ice-cream.

And I had a bit of success. The confidence I gained in making the commitment to writing and in using the writing planner led me to attempting to write a comedy show. I wrote a short comic piece for my writing group and they liked it so on a whim I entered the Funny Women comedy writing awards in the summer. To cut a very long story short, I wrote a thirty minute sitcom pilot and it was longlisted. While I hadn’t won I had lots of positive feedback from the judges, was put on their ‘ones to watch’ list and can now say I was in the top twenty in a national competition. I sent the piece to a local theatre group who decided to put it on as a stage play with a professional cast and crew at Wimbledon Theatre Studios where it sold out. Seeing the characters that were so recently in my head brought to life on stage was an amazing and surreal experience and I got to hang out with a bunch of fascinating acting types. A friend reminded me that up until recently I had refused to share my writing at all and now here it was on a public stage.

If you’re interested in reading more about how I wrote the play it’s in my blog, here and here.

I changed December’s task from ‘plan a new book’ to ‘plan a new play’ and wrote a half hour radio comedy instead.

So I stuck to some targets and went a little off track with others but looking back, I’ve made loads of progress and 2013 was definitely a year of commitment. Now I have to fill in my 2014 planner. But just in case, I’ll do it in pencil. You never know how things will turn out.

Here’s a little silly little online advent calendar to make you smile while you’re procrastinating writing.

What will you find behind the doors? Think festive games, inspirational quotes, useful links and free resources for writers, videos you’ll love and cute animals (because sometimes you just need to see something cute).

Check back every day from 1st – 24th December for a little writerly treat.

]]>http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/an-advent-calendar-for-you/feed/5What kind of writer are you?http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/what-kind-of-writer-are-you/
http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/what-kind-of-writer-are-you/#commentsFri, 08 Nov 2013 11:28:21 +0000http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/?p=1530Do you frolic, freely but aimlessly, in the flowered meadows of your imagination? Or are you sobbing into your pillows after yet again failing to find the Muse in the dark caverns of your soul?

One meadow available, perfect for gambolling

Find out what type of writer you are with this highly scientific* quiz.

*totally and utterly made-up. No scientists were harmed in the making of this quiz.

How do you approach planning?

A) Planning? What’s that?

B) Well, I do a lot of thinking and dreaming, and I kind of know what’s going to happen. In fact I’m sure I wrote some notes somewhere *rummages under chair*

C) Colour-coded story arcs, chapters mapped out, character sheets completed before a word goes on the page, check!

When do you tend to write?

A) Whenever inspiration strikes, often late into the night

B) When I can face sitting down and doing it, much less often than I’d like to

C) At consistent times of the day with reasonable regularity

What’s your writing style?

A) Lots of dialogue and action

B) Plenty of description – this is literature, I want people to feel it, to see it!

C) A bit of a mix

What’s your biggest problem with writing?

A) I run out of steam part way through the story

B) I’m constantly struggling with feelings of inadequacy and continually edit or re-start what I’ve written

C) Actually starting to write

How do you feel about other people?:

A) I’m pretty sociable

B) *hides in corner*

C) I like them a lot but I couldn’t eat a whole one

Scroll down to see your results and take part in the poll

The dark cavern of my soul

So, which writer are you?

Mostly As: The Skinny Dipper

Otherwise known as the Pantser (as in, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants), you like to dive right in and see where you end up, drawing on inspiration whenever it strikes.

A charismatic, funny writer who engages readers’ emotions, you can be prolific and are full of ideas. You’re relatively okay with imperfection and know you can write if you try, so are less likely to get bogged down in the Pit of Procrastinatory Despair.

However, you’re disorganised and inconsistent. This means you’re prone to burnout during productive phases and don’t finish projects because your stories come to a halt when you run out of plot ideas or write yourself into corners. You may also avoid editing (booooooooring!) and need a constant stream of praise to keep going.

How to Skinny Dip with style:

Harness your strengths and borrow techniques from other styles that will help you be consistent and actually finish things.

Having a very rough plan will take the pressure off when you can’t work out what should happen next and prevent you from running out of plot. Keep it very simple (a post-it with 3 disasters and a happy ending, plus a list of all those random characters) so that it doesn’t feel overwhelming, and don’t worry if you rebel and deviate from the plan. After all, you can always make another.

Or, continue as normal, but have some games you can play to get things moving again when you stalled. Spend 5 minutes brainstorming ‘what if’ questions, work out what would be the best, worst and most unexpected thing to happen at this point, or read back and try to solve your plot problem using an existing object or character.

Or reverse it: write the last sentence first and work backwards. If you still struggle, have you considered short stories or non-linear narrative structures? You don’t have to play by other people’s rules to write.

Train yourself to write consistently, even if you don’t feel like it. Make it into a game that you’ll want to play and getting the positive encouragement you need by using 750words or setting a task to write for 5 minutes a day, every day. Get someone to reward you for every achievement (gold stars!) or join an online group where you can cheer each other on.

Mostly Bs: The Tortured Soul

Tortured souls are idealists and dreamers, pure souls who can dedicate themselves for years to the pursuit of their highest calling. Your writing is probably much better than you imagine it to be, and you may be of the literary persuasion or be a naturally good editor. You write with passion and your characters are likely to be rich, finely painted and intricate.

You’re not having much fun at the moment though. Crippled by perfectionism and self-doubt, you might not be able to see past the next comma let alone how to reach that idealised Book of Total Amazingness in your head, so you get frustrated and stuck.

You live in the Pit of Procrastinatory Despair because there’s no way you can live up to your own standards.

How to ease the torture

You’re stifled by thinking you have to write magical words that will make people ooh and ah all the time. That isn’t realistic. It takes a lot of bad words to reach the good ones, and you can choose to struggle horribly with writing your whole life, or you can choose to take one little step at a time towards dealing with that perfectionism and changing your mindset.

LET GO. Give yourself permission to be Gloriously Craptastic. Challenge yourself to write for 5 minutes as badly as possible. Have fun, and do this whenever perfectionism gives you that threatening stare.

The Book of Total Amazingness is an overwhelming prospect, so make a plan and break it up into very small steps (do this in batches as you go for flexibility). If you already know which step you have to write today, you can just get on with it getting hung up on the bigger picture. Just focus on doing your job for that day, and do the same again the next day.

Try to write every day, even if it’s only for a few minutes. When you write, set a timer, drown out your inner voices with music, and write like the wind, setting a challenging word-count target so the inner editor can’t keep up. You don’t need it for a first draft.

Did you hear that? DO NOT EDIT before you need to. In fact, try not to read back at all during drafting. Onwards and upwards!

That voice in your head telling you how awful things are? It isn’t the objective truth, it’s just a mean voice. It doesn’t matter if an actor is feeling uninspired or unsure of their ability. Their job is to get up and perform. No excuses. Your job is to do the writing. No excuses. Act like a professional and do the job regardless of how you feel.

Bribe yourself, cheat yourself, join a writing group, take an NLP course, read other people’s rubbish first drafts, try meditation, find a writing partner… basically do anything you have to in order to keep writing.

Mostly Cs: Yes, Sarge!

You like deadlines, have a strong work ethic, are dependable with an eye for detail and have good organisational skills. Plans made and to-do lists written, Sir! You’re not easily ruffled by the chatter in your head and your determination means that you are more likely than other types to actually finish, edit and submit a book for publication.

However, you may have slight control-freak tendencies and be in danger of valuing productivity and deadlines more than minor details like, oh, creativity. Make sure that you aren’t so busy writing to schedules and plans that you fail to explore your world and create flat characters or writing that lacks emotional connection. You may also enjoy the planning stage so much that starting to write is a struggle, and you could be in danger of overwhelm because of the mountainous to-do list you’ve doubtlessly already made.

At ease, soldier

Make the most of your discipline by setting a regular timeslot for writing. You’re motivated by praise for a job well done, so bribe yourself with gold stars, happy faces or bars of chocolate when you reach milestones.

Then take a deep breath. Relaaaaaaaax, and learn to go with the creative flow from the Skinny Dipper. Instead of doing everything in a linear way, ask yourself which scene you want to write at this very moment. It doesn’t matter if it’s the next one in the sequence or one that isn’t even in the plan, let yourself write it just to see how it feels.

Free-write (anything that comes to mind without stopping) for 20 minutes from the perspective of your characters. Put them in situations, ask them about their childhoods, make them write letters. Repeat this until they really feel alive and distinct to you, and see if they behave in the way you’ve told them to. If writing is becoming a struggle, ask yourself whether your plan is still right, and write about it. Let yourself change the plan if it’s wrong.

Free-write on anything: ideas, objects, song lyrics, any random thing can loosen your creative muscles. It doesn’t matter what it’s about, what matters is that you don’t stop writing, even if all you do is complain about your day. If you find it hard to sit down and start writing every time, use free-writing as an easy way in. Once you’ve started, it will feel easier to settle into the real work.

You know that reading is writing-work too, yes? As is taking a shower, going for a long walk, or doodling. Stop feeling guilty, you don’t have to push all the time.

Writer Type Poll

Which one are you? Or are you a mixture? Remember, this is a wildly unscientific poll, and it’s normal to for your writing habits to oscillate anyway. Just take from it anything that’s helpful to you. Do your biggest writing problems fit your style, and if not what gets in your way? Let me know in the comments below.

]]>http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/what-kind-of-writer-are-you/feed/11Joanna Penn on writing a book: what happens after the first draft?http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/joanna-penn-on-writing-a-book-what-happens-after-the-first-draft/
http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/joanna-penn-on-writing-a-book-what-happens-after-the-first-draft/#commentsWed, 16 Oct 2013 13:45:34 +0000http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/?p=1500Joanna Penn is the author of ‘Career Change’ and the #1 bestseller ‘How To Market A Book’. She also writes the bestselling ARKANE thrillers under J.F.Penn and currently has 7 books on the market in various formats.

Her site for writers www.TheCreativePenn.com has been voted one of the Top 10 Blogs for writers 3 years running and offers articles, audio and video on writing, publishing and book marketing. You can connect with Joanna on Twitter @thecreativepenn.

Here she shares some advice about the editing process. Take it away, Jo…

Many new writers are confused about what happens after you have managed to get the first draft out of your head and onto the page.

I joined NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year and ended up with 27,774 words on a crime novel, the first in a new series. It’s not an entire first draft but it’s a step in the right direction and the plotting time was sorely needed.

Maybe you ‘won’ NaNo or maybe you have the first draft of another book in your drawer, but we all need to take the next step in the process in order to end up with a finished product.

Here’s my process, and I believe it’s relevant whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction.

(1) Rewriting and redrafting. Repeat until satisfied.

For many writers, the first draft is just the bare bones of the finished work and often no one will ever see that version of the manuscript. Remember the wise words of Anne Lamott in ‘Bird by Bird’ “Write shitty first drafts.” You can’t edit a blank page but once those words are down, you can improve on them.

Joanna’s rewrites and edits for Pentacost

I love the rewriting and redrafting process. Once I have a first draft I print the whole thing out and do the first pass with handwritten notes. I write all kinds of notes in the margins and scribble and cross things out. I note down new scenes that need writing, continuity issues, problems with characters and much more. That first pass usually takes a while. Then I go back and start a major rewrite based on those notes.

(2) Structural edit/ Editorial review

I absolutely recommend a structural edit if this is your first book, or the first book in a series. A structural edit is usually given to you as a separate document, broken down into sections based on what is being evaluated.

(3) Revisions

When you get a structural edit back, there are usually lots of revisions to do, possibly even a complete rewrite. This may take a while …

(4) Beta readers

Beta readers are a trusted group of people who evaluate your book from a reader’s perspective. You should only give them the book if you are happy with it yourself because otherwise it is disrespectful of their time.

This could be a critique group, although I prefer a hand-picked group of 5 or 6 who bring different perspectives. I definitely have a couple of people who love the genre I am writing in as they will spot issues within the boundaries of what is expected, and then some people who consider other things.

(5) Line edits

Joanna’s line editor’s notes for Exodus

The result of line editing is the classic manuscript covered in red ink as an editor slashes your work to pieces!

You can get one of these edits before or after the beta readers, or even at the same time. I prefer afterwards as I make broader changes of the book based on their opinions so I want the line editor to get the almost final version.

Line edits are more about word choice, grammar and sentence structure. There may also be comments about the narrative itself but this is a more a comment on the reading experience by someone who is skilled at being critical around words.

The first time you get such a line edit, it hurts. You think you’re a writer and then someone changes practically every sentence. Ouch.

But editing makes your book stronger, and the reader will thank you for it.

(6) Revisions

You’ll need to make more changes based on the feedback of the beta readers and line editor. This can sometimes feel like a complete rewrite and takes a lot of detailed time as you have to check every sentence.

I usually make around 75% of the changes suggested by the line editor, as they are usually sensible, even though I am resistant at first. It is important to remember that you don’t have to change what they ask for though, so evaluate each suggestion but with a critical eye.

(7) Proof-reading

By this point, you cannot even see any mistakes you might have made. Inevitably, your corrections for line editing have exposed more issues, albeit minor ones.

So before I publish now, I get a final read-through from a proof-reader. (Thanks Liz at LibroEditing!) After Prophecy was published, I even got an email from a reader saying congratulations because they had failed to find a single typo. Some readers really do care, for which I am grateful and that extra investment at the end can definitely pay off in terms of polishing the final product.

(8) Publication

Once I have corrected anything minor the proof-reading has brought to light, I will Compile the various file formats on Scrivener for the ebook publishing platforms. I will then back the files up a number of times, as I have done throughout the whole process.

(9) Post-publication

This may be anathema to some, but the beauty of ebook publishing is that you can update your files later. If someone finds a typo, no problem. If you want to update the back matter with your author website and mailing list details, no worries. If you want to rewrite the whole book, you can do that too (although some sites have stricter rules than Amazon around what is considered a new version.)

Budget: Time and money

Every writer is different, and there are no rules.

But in terms of time, your revision process will likely take at least as long as the first draft and probably longer (unless you’re Lee Child who just writes one draft!). For my latest book, Exodus, the first draft took about 3 months and the rewriting process took about 6 months.